Schools across Canada have all one thing in common; violent incidents which are not often brought up, nor discussed globally. Harassment, threats, physical assault and aggression towards students and teachers is a real-life problem. In this essay, I will discuss the great importance of raising awareness when discussing the topic of violence within schools. Many tend to push things under the rug and to not discuss important topics as such. However, the in-school violence on a daily basis is one topic which puts everyone at risk; teachers, staff members, security, students, and the parents which go to work hoping that their children are safe in school. 

Amongst the many schools across Canada, there are multiple cases in which the parents, and even students within the school are unaware of the violent incidents on a daily basis which occur on school grounds. CBS News reached out to schools across the country to interview parents and students on their outlook on the violence which occurs in schools. CBS News decided to ask them to fill out a survey which would test their knowledge on what goes on in schools when they are at work. The parents of students stated that they were not told about the amount of violent incidents within schools, and they were shocked when told the actual amount of cases. Students were also shocked to find out that 46% of students 16-17 years old were victims of these violent attacks in school. This percentage was not to scare parents and students, but to show how important it is to inform those in school that these incidents are more present than they think. This survey also uncovered that 4 in 10 boys are physically assaulted at school, according to CBS News research. CBS News elaborated on how school boards and governments tend to hide this information from specifically parents, as they do not want to draw too much attention to the school or the violent incidents which occur on school grounds. Parents were appreciative to speak with people from this news broadcast, and to discover information which they were unaware of before. To inform rather than to hide is something much more important, as it will help protect future victims from being threatened in school.

The second reason why violence in schools must be discussed abroad across Canada is not only to students, but to protect teachers as well. Teachers have a very tough role within a school as they are tested of their patience and knowledge on a daily basis. A teacher sets themselves up in a classroom to teach students, unaware of any personal or anger they hold inside from a day-to-day basis. This causes much stress for teachers, being that they are the sole person in the classroom who is responsible for the safety and knowledge of 15-30 students at a time. Violence in schools is one thing which is most harming to teachers as they must not only witness these altercations but are often the same ones to stop the fights, often being also harmed in the process. CBS News discusses how teachers are told to not report all altercations in school in hopes of keeping the real statistics hidden from parents and others outside the school boards. Teachers must risk their lives every day when dealing with the violence in school. in return, they are told to not be truthful, further elevating their personal risks on being harmed on school grounds. Teachers not only deal with physical altercations, but they also are subject to verbal abuse from students. Verbal abuse is one of the many reasons why a teacher may quit their job, as the constant abuse from students can be too much for teachers to handle, affecting their personal lives back at home after a long day of work. Keeping the protection of students and educators in school has not been a priority for the past several years, which therefore, creates a bigger issue when looking at violence in schools overall. 

Amongst the many violent incidents which occur in schools across Canada, most of them are between males. This is when Kimmel’s text discussing masculinity is brought into the picture. In order to analyze why males, feel that violence proves their strength in being a “real man”, we can look into Kimmel’s text in which he states that there are various masculinities in the world, proving how this one image of what a man should be does not exist. However, in schools, male students tend to still believe that they must be seen as strong and powerful in order to be considered a real man. Something which almost every male in school fears is being seen as weak. This, therefore, leads them to become bullies or to become violent on school grounds when in confrontation or in an argument with another student. To be a victim and to not be seen as independent and powerful during a fight is something which many males struggle with. According to CBC Canada, nearly half of teen boys are assaulted in high school through physical altercations. Across Canada, multiple violence incidents occur, but are not often spoken about. These incidents, however, put everyone surrounding them at risk of being harmed, or even killed in some brutal cases. Through Kimmel’s multi-masculinities concept which ranges from culture to culture relates to the violence in schools as it shows that males struggle to find their own masculinity and feel as though the tough and rough male in school is the only one which resembles a strong man. 

In conclusion, violence in school is a topic which must be widely discussed across the country, raising awareness for parents and students. School is a place where students should feel safe and protected in. Canadian schools should seek safer measures on school grounds in order to prevent these violent altercations from getting out of hand. Although safety measures have been improved in most schools by security, monitors, and cameras, there is plenty of room for improvement. Hopefully, school will become a place where students can feel safe and protected in again, allowing them to focus mainly on their educations and to enjoy the daily activities with other students, instead of living in fear of being the next harmed victim. 

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References:

“’I Felt Helpless’: Teachers Call for Support amid ‘Escalating Crisis’ of Classroom Violence | CBC Radio.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 17 Feb. 2019, http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-for-february-17-2019-1.5017616/i-felt-helpless-teachers-call-for-support-amid-escalating-crisis-of-classroom-violence-1.5017623.

McGuire, Jennifer. “Why CBC Started Looking into Violence in Schools | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 9 Nov. 2019, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/school-violence-editors-note-1.5331402.

Kimmel, M., & Bridges, T. (2011). Masculinity. Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets. doi: 10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0033

Fletcher, R. (2019, October 24). Boys in Alberta schools get assaulted, threatened, robbed and slurred more often than rest of Canada | CBC News. Retrieved May 19, 2020, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/school-violence-bullying-alberta-student-survey-1.5331861

During International Women’s Week, I attended two presentations in the auditorium from Indigenous and Muslim women speaking on their daily lives and dealing with struggles that they must face. I also attended a presentation speaking on climate change in Canada, and how Indigenous women are victimized in society and are subject to brutal attacks and even murder. These presentations had some interesting facts and included things which I did not know of before which is what made them interesting to me.

To begin, we listened to Nadia Naqvi, a Muslim teacher and public speaker which told us her story and her struggles, including what life is like in her shoes. At the start of her career, Nadia received countless racial slurs and insults towards her and her religion and appearance just because she is Muslim. She also spoke on her life before becoming a teacher, and how her and her family were constantly seen as a danger to society as people at restaurants, stores, and public areas viewed them in a certain way. When the Canadian government announced Bill 21 and what it stands for, Nadia decided to start a new route in her life and to become a public speaker and voice for all indigenous and Muslim women who would be the most affected by it. Nadia began reaching out to news broadcasts and did many interviews in order to spread her voice and reach across Canada to raise awareness for Muslim and Indigenous women which are as well, being targeted by this law and this discrimination against them and their culture/religion.

After listening to her speech, I concluded that Bill 21 is a greater issue than other make it seem as. It is stripping people of their form of expression and way of dressing and portraying themselves in society. Although the said goal of this law is to have equality of men and women in some form of authority like being a teacher, it actually does not promote this at all. Nadia goes on to elaborate on this fact as she states that it is a law which victimizes those that look like her and portray their religion like she does. She states that wearing hijab is her decision and that as an individual in society living in Canada, she should be allowed to live life and appear to others any way that she wishes to. These interviews which Nadia has done have been widely spread across Canada as she now has a great following which look up to her and agree that this bill is not one that betters Canada as a country and becoming more equal, instead it is punishing and more discriminating.

Another subject which was also discussed during these presentations were the murders of indigenous women and violence against all women as a whole in Canada. This speech Was very intense and the entire room was silent as it discussed cases of missing and murdered indigenous women, and the crisis of it getting worse and worse as years progress. This subject included facts about Indigenous women and their struggles In being victimized in society. Lucy Everett and Jen Gobby discussed both of these matters and introduced a couple women and even younger girls which have been killed from brutal attacks by racists and people which have a hatred for women like them. This presentation surprised me as I was not aware of this matter and it was a complete shock to see the amount of people and victims affected by this horrible tradegy which keeps on happening. This further proves the point of how stories and horrible events like this are pushed under the rug and forgotten about in society. These events must be broadcasdted and widely swpread throughout Canada to share their story and to feel protected by others as this is a great issue which needs to be stopped immediately. I definetly learned a lot from this presentation as it portrayed all struggles not only women go through, but also the struggles that certain nationalities of women go through, making the situation way worse and drastic. I think that these presentations over the past week greatly helped gain a better knowledge about women in Canada, and the issues which are pushed under the rug which need to be brought to light and spoken about in order to spark change for the better. 

In Kimmel’s text on Masculinity, he discusses gender and its overall idea in society. The presentations during International Women’s Week discussed the same issues when looking at femininity and the female gender being seen as inferior, even to this day. This has been an ongoing issue from just looking at males and females. Kimmel also speaks on masculinity and says that there are many masculinities and not just one, as not all men are the same and act in the same way. Men are seen to act a certain type of way and to take on a role of being strong and not showing much emotion. This is the same way that women also are seen to act in a certain way in society as being the ones that should cook and clean and have the man in the house take care of bigger tasks. This has changed throughout the years as women have progressed and broken the barrier between male and females a little more than before. However, there is still a long way to go. I think that these presentations during International Women’s Week are important as they show how women in society have progressed into bigger roles, but there is still work to be done. I enjoyed attended them and I did learn more on women in general, along with the bigger issues which must be spoken about and spread throughout the entire world to hopefully help billions of women across the world to stand up for themselves and to be strong in times when strength is the hardest to have.

The person i chose to interview about his best friend is my dad and his friendship with his friend of 18 years, Pat. 

1. My dad is very close to his best friend and has been for very long. They both enjoy doing the same things and have very similar interests which is why they have remained friends for so long. When my dad met his bestfriend, he can tell that he was someone that would be genuine and would be someone that my dad can become best friends with. Throughout his life, my dad has met many people through his friend groups, jobs, and everyday experiences. He said that Pat was someone that he can count on and that he would be someone that is always in the mood to have a good time.
2. My dad and his friend are very similar in many ways. They both are very into fishing and hunting, and go almost every weekend in the summer together up north. They also share the same liking of sports teams and sports in general. They attend hockey games and even played badminton for many years together. They have been on many roadtrips to toronto and other places in the US. My dad and his friend are two people which have many interests and hobbies which is why they never get bored and always find something to do.
3. My dad and his friend are two people which don’t often share emotions bery much. They tend to be more closed off in general with their feelings, but they have told eachother that they appreciate the other in their lives. Through ups and downs, they both know who they can talk to and who will always be there to give advice and offer help if needed. They have both experienced many things which have brought them down in life, but their friendship had allowed them to be open with eachother and to knoe that they got eachother in any time they need help. My dad is someone that associates himself with good and genuine people and doesn’t appreciate temporary friends. My dad’s friendship with Pat has lasted very long because of their similarities and constant interest in new things. People that are genuine and real are hard to find, but my dad’s friendship with his bestfriend has 

1. In this statement, the author is stating that gender roles and gender differences have all risen from the way the culture and society has formed it to be seen. There are certain things which were “made” or “fit” for a man, and the same for women as well. The creation of these gender differences arise from past habits where women are seen as being the stay-at-home mom, and cleans and cooks for the family. Men are seen to be the breadwinners, and provide for the family. These two simple gender roles which have been put into society prove the fact of how the creation of both past and present gender differences come from society’s habits. In the episode which we watched in class titled “Man Enough”, the men sitting around the table go on to elaborate on how in their personal lives growing up, they discovered gender differences and grew into them. Some of these differences have brough personal shame on them as they did fall into the traps of disrespecting not omly women, but also for falling into the stereotypical statements for men in society. 
2. Kimmel speaks on these masculinities in meaning all the possible statements and stereotypes which are put onto a man and what a man should be. The daily habits and hobbies of a man which create society’s “man” and exactly what he should act like. Kimmel speaks on how understanding these masculinities can open up the conversation for unimaginable change for society and the culture. In stating this, Kimmel is trying to convey the message of how understanding the true  idea of being a man and masculinity can allow many people to realy understand that there is more to a man than what society pushes us to think. This relates to the fourth episode from “Man Enough” as the men speak on how they also have felt confused as to what a man should act like towards women and others in society. Their masuclinities and what makes them who they are have been misunderstood in the past, and have also confused them, making them men which have made mistakes in the past with behaving respectfully in society. There is more to madculinity than what meets the eye, and in this episode, the men speak on this exact idea and why is it something that must be widely spoken of to everyone so they can see that it takes alot of effort and experimentation in order to become someone that you are proud of, and to be someone which society respects.

After watching the documentary, the first aspect that intrigued me was when they showed studies on how boys express their depression through aggrevation and by being more frustrated at external things. This contradicts how girls cope with depression as they tend to be more quiet and prefer to be alone. Boys have trouble dealing with their emotions and coping with their feelings that include sadness or stress. Girls are seen as more emotional and sensitive than boys, which is why a girl crying is more common than seeing a boy crying. “Boys believe it is not normal to cry after 10” was a quote which stood out to me as it shows how even as a young child, boys are told to be tough and to not cry in situations when crying would be the best release and coping mechanism. They’re told to be tough and to not be emotional, which is why they tend to turn to anger and violence to release their hurting inside. 

The second aspect in the documentary which stood out to me was when they spoke about a man that shot someone 6 times, making this moment the only time he felt true power. He did this because he felt peer pressured into doing so to fit in, and his peers told him that he wouldnt be tough if he didnt do it. This part shows how friends and those you surround yourself with greatly impact your daily life and your motives.

In Carlos Andreas Gomez’s book, he speaks on a boy’s life experience while trying to find himself and his sexuality. He speaks on different cultures and how some things in different countries are more common than others. For example, holding hands in Zambia is considered normal, however if two people were to hold hands in America, they would be seen as being gay or in a relationship. This part stood out to me because it shows how a simple action of touching hands can be seen as two completely different things depending on the region or country.

The only man which I find to be inspirational is my dad. His constant hustle and great effort in anything that he does in his daily life is what makes him to be someone very inspirational to me. My dad has showed me how working hard in life leads to great things as he constantly preaches that if you’re going to do something, do it the right. He takes care of those around him and is always supporting in anything that they I do. He has taught me how although life can be unfair sometimes, focusing on your goals and striving to accomplish them will lead to everything working out fine in the end.

The qualities i look for in an inspirational person is someone who is genuine and passionate in anything they do. Also determination is very important as my dad inspires me because of his constant determination to succeed.

My favorite food is pasta.